


In A Hole In The Ground (it was Child's Play)

by badskippy



Series: A Hobbit's Hole (er I mean SMIAL!) [6]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Emotional Hurt, Father-Daughter Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-26
Updated: 2014-09-26
Packaged: 2018-02-18 21:16:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2362427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badskippy/pseuds/badskippy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jewel is learning sword fighting (she's very good), Thorin is teaching (who else could do it), Bilbo is suspicious (of course he is), but there is more to the story than defense (isn't it always something from the past)</p>
            </blockquote>





	In A Hole In The Ground (it was Child's Play)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [beetle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beetle/gifts).



* * *

 

 

            “All right, Jewel,” Thorin said, relaxing his stance and holding the small wooden sword out in front of him. “I’m going to come at you. Are you ready?”

            Jewel licked her lips, swaying a bit from side to side like a cat ready to pounce and tightened her hold on her own wooden sword with both hands. “I’m ready, Adad.”

            Thorin stepped forward and slowly swept his weapon in an upward arch, while Jewel brought her own weapon down to block and push Thorin’s away from her. Thorin brought his sword back around and tried an attack from the other side, only for his daughter to parry and, once again, stop his advance. Thorin then tried a downward slash, but Jewel was prepared and she brought up her sword horizontally, halting Thorin’s weapon and pushing it in a wide arc to one side.

            “Thorin, dear,” Bilbo called out from the sidelines.

            “One moment, beloved,” Thorin answered without taking his eyes from his daughter and stepping forward with the sword at his side. “That was very good Jewel. You are learning very quickly.”

            The little girl beamed. “Thank you, Adad!”

            “Now, I want you to practice the same moves, but I want you to hold the sword with only one hand.”

            “Thorin,” Bilbo said a little more firmly.

            “Coming,” Thorin replied a little gruffly, his eyes still locked on his daughter.

            Jewel let out a huff. “One-handed is hard, Adad.”

            “I know, precious,” Thorin said. “But I also know you can do it. Take it slow.”

            The little girl took a deep breath, nodded and let it out. “Yes, Adad.”

            “That’s my girl,” Thorin said, bending down and planting a kiss on Jewel’s head. “You continue while I talk to Papa.”

            Jewel turned to attack the large Oak above Bag End, while Thorin turned in the opposite direction and went to chat with his husband who was standing with his arms crossed and tapping his foot, which usually didn’t bode well for anyone.

            “Yes, my love,” Thorin said gently.

            Bilbo simply cocked an eyebrow before finally saying dryly, “Sword lessons.”

            Thorin sighed, looked at his boots for a moment before meeting his husband’s eyes. “Yes. It is time that Jewel learned the art of defense.”

            “She’s ten.”

            “You and I won’t always be around to protect her. She should be prepared to stand alone.”

            “And what, pray tell, is she preparing to stand alone, _against_?”

            “Even in The Shire, she may well face adversaries.”

            “Adversaries.”

            “Absolutely.”

            “In The Shire.”

            “Yes.”

            “Such as?”

            “Wolves.”

            “Which only come if the river freezes over.”

            “Orcs and Goblins.”

            “There has never been an Orc attack and the last time the Goblins _tried_ was four generations ago.”

            “Thieves and highwaymen.”

            “Which are _totally_ controlled by the Rangers.”

            “What about ruffians?!”

            “Local rumor is that _you_ are the only ruffian in Hobbiton.”

            “There are others that might press their advantage with her!”

            “ _Press their advantage_? What in the name of the Green Lady are you talking about?”

            Thorin pressed his lips together, tightly before barking out, “Don’t tell me you are blind to what goes on around our children.”

            Bilbo was taken aback. “What are you referring to?”

            “Yesterday.”

            “Yesterday? Would you care to be more specific?”

            “When we were out in the garden.”

            Bilbo thought back on yesterday’s planting. “I am failing to follow you.”

            Thorin released a frustrated growl. “I know you saw what that … that … _Merryweather_ boy did!”

            Bilbo looked at his husband like he had grown another head. “ _That Merryweather boy_? You mean young Branbert?!”

            “Yes!”

            Bilbo would have laughed if Thorin wasn’t being so incredibly and ridiculously serious.

            “He handed her a daisy.”

            “HE HANDED HER A _DAISY_!” Thorin snarled out, looking for all the world like young Branbert was the worse possible scoundrel imaginable.

            “Thorin,” Bilbo said gently. “Daisies mean ‘Innocence’ that’s why parents encourage their fauntlings to exchange them as gifts, because they’re innocent.”

            “It didn’t seem that innocent to me!”

            “He’s _nine_ , Thorin.”

            Thorin grumbled. Bilbo wanted to be amused but he was very touched at Thorin’s protectiveness. They both loved their children equally, but there was a soft spot for Jewel with them, especially Thorin. Given that Dwarrowdams are so rare, it really wasn’t surprising.

            “This isn’t about pressing advantages,” Bilbo said softly.

            “Is too,” Thorin replied, sounding for all the world to Bilbo like a petulant child.

            “Is not.”

            Bilbo waited while Thorin seemed to mull it all over in his head and then huffed in defeat.

            “She is only ten,” Thorin said quietly.

            “She is _only_ ten,” Bilbo repeated.

            “It’s too early.”

            “Early for what?”

            “Courting gifts!”

            “Courting gifts?” Now Bilbo finally did laugh. “Thorin, she got a single flower … a Daisy of all things, from a young boy that, at the most, has a puppy-crush on her. And she accepted the flower because it was pretty and she is friends with him; nothing more.”

            Thorin had thrown the small sword to the ground and had crossed his arms. He was obviously thinking over what Bilbo said but he still looked very unhappy.

            “You know that flower was not a courting gift,” Bilbo said, smiling at the very idea, but he was still confused a bit. “What is this really about?”

            Thorin seemed to chew on that one but said nothing.

            “Is because you don’t want our little girl to grow up?”

            “Don’t be ridiculous,” Thorin said.

            Bilbo was tempted to point out that Thorin was already acting as such, so why couldn’t he, but he decided it was best to hold on to his opinions. “Well, it can’t be because you dislike young Branbert, he’s just a fauntling really. Besides, we’re friends with his parents and know him to be a sweet boy.”

            Thorin colored just a bit and Bilbo knew his Dwarf well enough to know that he was feeling guilty.

            “No,” Thorin said softly. “Bran is a good lad. I have no issue with him.”

            Bilbo was at a bit of a loss. Again, he would have loved to laugh this whole thing off but it seemed every nerve ending was tingling and he had a growing feeling that something was off.

            “Then what is the issue, sweetheart?” Bilbo asked gently. “Because _clearly_ there is an issue.”

            Thorin deflated a bit and turned to walk a few paces away. He stood there for several long minutes, not moving, seeming to stare up at the clouds, before he finally turned to speak.

            “When I was very young,” Thorin said, “only twenty, as a matter-of-fact—”

            “Basically, the Dwarrow equivalent of Jewel,” Bilbo interjected.

            “Indeed,” Thorin affirmed. “I developed a crush on someone; someone who I thought returned those feelings. He was older and I thought him very brave and strong.”

            Bilbo nodded, wondering where this was leading.

            “As the months wore on,” Thorin continued, “it became increasingly obvious to many that I was quite taken with the Dwarf, so he soon presented me with a gift; a large, perfect, blood-red ruby. Needless to say, I was over the moon.

            “However, it didn’t take me long to realize that many were snickering behind my back and come to find out, the ruby was only cut, colored glass. I had been so blinded in my adoration that I failed the simplest of Dwarrow tests — I had missed the fact that the stone was a fake. I learned soon after that the Dwarf I fancied myself in love with had done it as a joke so that he could laugh at my stupidity with his friends and that he never had any feelings for me.”

            Bilbo was almost horrified. While he still didn’t understood stones and gems the way Thorin did, he did know his flowers and if he understood what Thorin had just said, it would be like giving a Tansy to little child and telling them it was a yellow Daisy, all the while knowing the Tansy meant _‘Hostility.’_ Who would do such a thing to a child and find that amusing?

            “To add insult to injury,” Thorin added. “My Grandfather and Father merely thought it a funny joke and did not come to my defense; they viewed it has nothing more than child’s play. Only my mother realized what it had meant to me and she was the only one to offer comfort.”

            Bilbo reached out and rubbed his hands up and down Thorin’s arms. Bilbo could see Thorin relax and that had been his intention.

            “I do not wish,” Thorin said finally, “to see our daughter so hurt, so used, ever in my life. I do not want her to feel the weakness one feels after being … so betrayed.”

            Bilbo finally understood.

            “Well,” Bilbo said quietly. “I think it’s time you got back to your student and I leave you two to your lessons.”

            “You will not fight me on this?” Thorin asked, a tad incredulously.

            “No, my love,” Bilbo giving Thorin a soft smile. “But I will ask that you keep it to wooden swords for the foreseeable future.”

            Thorin straightened up and stood taller, mulling over Bilbo’s words. “That is … acceptable.”    

            “Good,” Bilbo said as Thorin turned and walked back to Jewel.

            As he walked over the hill, Bilbo could hear Jewel and Thorin’s voices drift after him.

            “I’m ready to try one-handed now, Adad!”

            “You’ve done excellent, my gem. Soon you will be able to handle anything that comes your way.”

 

 

 


End file.
